Marketing tools and techniques are resources and strategies that help businesses promote their products and/or services in the most effective way. Here are five marketing tools and techniques to learn and implement for the success of your business.
#1: Affiliate/Influencer Marketing
Affiliate and influencer marketing are relatively new marketing techniques that allow your most loyal customers/clients to promote your products/services to their friends, family, and social media following. Influencers are those who have a large social media following, and their large reach can increase brand awareness. Affiliates (which can also include influencers) may or may not have a large social media following, but they are passionate about your company and want to share your products/services with the people in their lives. Your affiliates are typically rewarded with a small (are large) commission each time they refer someone to your business.
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#2: Customer Relationship Management
Customer relationship management (CRM) is the process of cultivating a positive relationship between your business and your customer base or clientele. This is a key element of business software that can give you a better understanding of how your customers interact with your business. CRM tools give you valuable insight into your customers, such as their purchasing history and trends, and also their personal information (that they have chosen to share), such as their home address and email address— and this is where email marketing can be helpful. Email marketing allows you to promote your products and/or services to certain customers, such as advertising sales to frequent buyers.
#3: Event and Promotional Marketing
Event marketing is the process of hosting or attending an event (either virtually or in person) for businesses. These can be pop-up shops, seminars, conferences, or trade shows. This is a great way to interact with other businesses and your customer base, as well as increase your brand awareness.
One of the best ways to increase brand awareness at these types of events is to invest in promotional marketing by selling or giving away (whichever is most appropriate for the occasion) promotional items. Promotional items are everyday items like keychains, pens, visors/caps, and T-shirts that bear your company’s name and logo. The idea behind promotional marketing is to create more brand awareness when people wear or use your promotional items. For best results, choose either everyday items, or items that are specific to your business, such as promotional golf accessories if you’re in the sports industry, or promotional bottle openers and cooking utensils if you’re in the food and beverage industry.
#4: Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is one of the most commonly used digital marketing strategies because it’s one of the most effective. With around 25% of the world’s population being active on social media, you have a large audience of people to market to. Nearly every social media platform has evolved to allow businesses to be able to both market and sell their products, a change that became more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic when shopping outside of the home was limited. Some of the current most popular social media platforms include:
- Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp
- LinkedIn (both a job search site and a social media platform)
- YouTube
- TikTok
Also, interacting with your customers on social media helps build trust. This will increase the chances of them choosing your company over a competitor, and spreading the word about your business.
#5: Website Design
First and foremost, all businesses should have a website because this acts as a landing spot for all information on your business. Even if you don’t sell products or schedule consultations online, having a website will increase brand awareness through search engine optimization (SEO). SEO techniques use keywords from your website to help it rank higher in search engines when people search for words related to your business. This drives more organic traffic to your website.
Having a blog on your website also helps out a lot with SEO, but it’s not always necessary. However, your website should include an About page, a contact page, and a page listing your products and/or services. Also, try to limit the number of pop-ups on your page so that visitors aren’t tempted to click off.
These five marketing techniques are very internet- and tech-based, but that’s the world we are currently living in. Because of this, it’s time to take advantage of these tools and techniques to ensure the success of your business.
